The Friendzone is SO Over-rated
by DarkHeart89
Summary: "Well, well. Look who it is, Fred Jones? Long time no see, eh buddy?" Came the condescending, smug, vindictive voice of only one person. Fred curled his lips back. "Red Herring." / One-shot, Fraphne all the way, Happy New Year readers!


The Friend Zone is SO Over-rated

Summary: "Well, well. Look who it is, Fred Jones? Long time no see, eh buddy?" Came the condescending, smug, vindictive voice of only one person.

Fred curled his lips back. "Red Herring."

Rating: T

Pairing: Fraphne

AN: SO, good old Cartoon Network was playing Scooby Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster today and I watched it before I went to get a haircut and I thought about two things. Jealous Fred [Robbie Amell] is hot as hell [Oh God, I'm rhyming unintentionally] and in the cartoons, he hated Red Herring. So why not bring him in being all hot shit while Fred is left in the dust with wanting to be 'just friends' with Daphne Blake - the hottest girl in school?

Well, he's stupid. So here's the repercussions of the mechanics in my head FINALLY working.

I'll probably follow up on this eventually and I'll probably be writing some more Scooby Doo stories, I am really in love with this right now! Fred and Daphne are magical, and I feel the need to fan girl over their FINAL kiss in Scooby Doo: Stage Fright. Plus, I loved the song they sang together and it was romantic and I'm feeling like a typical teenage girl right now!

Ugh, I just love them.

~Nat

[OoOoOoO]

"Dude, Jones! Wake up! Where's your head, man? I'm trying to inform you about the mishaps of your little 'ex' going around and you're dozing off?" Came the insistent bump at Fred's shoulder from his friend, James [Jimmy] Williams. He was a tall - though lanky - African American boy. Fred did have friends outside of his Mystery Inc. pals, he had his football pals and his acquaintances in class; Jimmy happened to be both of those things.

Immediately, the brunette snapped awake. He hadn't gotten much sleep after a football game that lasted until nine and then having to pull practically an all-night for a big History Test in Jenkin's class. He was dying inside. "Wait, my ex? Which one?" He was the high school equivalent of a playboy, he'd dated every girl specified as pretty in the eyes of the football team.

Jimmy rolled his eyes and folded his arms, raising his shoulders. "Ya know, Drama Girl? Blake? Your little mystery-solving minx?" He added on in attempt to jog Fred's exhausted mind.

A rush of adrenaline belted Fred immediately and he straightened his spine. "Wait, Daphne? What about her? What's she doing?" Immediately, a surge of possessiveness hit him like a hailstorm. No, not Daphne; they could run after Jessica Heil, Brandi Johnson, Megan Peterson, and Tasha Matthews, he wouldn't care one bit - but Daphne, that was a **whole** another story. Everyone on the football team knew not to mess with the redhead or else they'd be waging a whole new war with Fred Jones. He was a force **not** to be reckoned with. He benched two-fifty **and** he was the lead quarterback. Not even big Senior, Thomas Hanson, bothered doing anything and he was nearly three hundred pounds.

"Ooh, that struck a wild fire in you." Jimmy spoke with mirth in his eyes; amused by the reaction he'd received. The rest of the football team [minus Fred of course] had bets placed when they were bound to get back together; they still had the hots for each other evidently.

Fred's eyebrows furrowed unhappily and he clenched his teeth, willing himself to stay calm, but failing miserably. His fingernails dug into his palm to stop from getting too carried away and managing in a calm voice, he asked again: "Who's dating her? Is it Johnson? Ugh, I knew he couldn't keep his hands off of her! I see the way he looks at her!" His actions had become animated with anger and he was nearly going to go running after Jason Johnson, when Jimmy stopped him, grabbing his bicep quickly.

"Dude, calm yourself, it's not Johnson." Jimmy insisted, though a fear was building in his eyes at who really did have Fred's girl. He didn't want to be the one to break it to him like this, but they'd pulled straws and he'd gotten the shortest one [naturally]. He always ended up getting screwed when it came to breaking news to Fred.

He released a relieved breath, but immediately straightened with curiosity, narrowing his eyes. "Who then? Don't hold back information, tell me!" He shook Jimmy's shoulders and Jimmy gulped.

He knew this wasn't going to be good. He bent his neck to the side, Jimmy's eyes going towards the doors. "Uh…Fred? You wanna find out?"

"Obviously!" He shouted at him in irritation, growing aggravated at the lack of information being shared.

Jimmy once again took another gulp, before exhaling through his nose and raising a finger, pointing it shakily towards the doors twenty feet away at the entrance of the schools. "You might want to turn around."

As soon as Fred did - as if on cue- Daphne walked in with her new beau on her arm. Fred couldn't believe his eyes and his eyes widened to nearly the size of saucers.

"No, no. It can't be - not him - he left. I told him to get the hell out of here back in middle school! I told him, it's not - no, this - this is a sick dream," He muttered to himself, trying to get his head screwed back on straight. This wasn't right.

While distracted, Jimmy bolted to the Janitor's closet and hid; things were about to go down and he didn't want Fred to turn on him because he had been the one to tell him; even if Fred would have found out inevitably anyway. Sometimes Jimmy was **too** good of a friend.

As soon as the other male's eyes landed on Fred, he immediately coiled up like a snake readying itself to attack and defend its masculinity; the male smirked wickedly. He looked down at the girl beside him and muttered something into her ear and with a kiss brushed briefly to his cheek, she left with an obedience that even Fred hadn't been able to leave in her.

"Well, well. Look who it is, Fred Jones? Long time no see, eh buddy?" Came the condescending, smug, vindictive voice of only one person.

Fred curled his lips back. "Red Herring."

The redhead grinned at him, a look that should never cross a face as ugly as his. "So you remember my name, Fredward? I'm surprised, figured you'd forget this handsome face." He gestured to his more subtly freckled face. Back in middle school, he'd been chunky, a vibrant ugly red haired head, with a gruesome mug to match. Now he was muscular, lightly freckled, and rather handsome in the perspective of the girls observing the scene.

Fred still found him as terrifyingly ugly as the day they'd first brawled in the third grade.

"How could I forget such a uniquely disgusting face? Believe me, I tried to erase the absolute **revulsion** I felt when I first met you, but that was impossible. I knew nothing could ever look as bad."

"Good to know I repulse you as much as seeing you repulses me." Red smirked. There were gasps; many knew something was going to go down. Everyone had paused in the hallways to watch the scene unfold before them. Some even had pulled out their phones to get video evidence of this.

"This is so going on Youtube," One bystander said to another, grinning like a fool.

But both Fred and Red ignored the commentary and didn't let their eyes stray from one another, their proximities minimizing as they drew closer to each other and simply glared each other down.

"Fred!" Daphne came out of no where [just his luck] and intervened, raising an eyebrow at what was going on. She had to be the only one who was unaware of their history [she had moved to Coolsville, Ohio only in the 6th grade].

Red looked at her in confusion. "Babe, you know this loser?" He jerked a dismissive finger towards Fred, scowling.

Fred pointed towards Red accusingly. "You're dating Red Herring?!"

Daphne held up her hands, making a distressed face. "Okay, hold up both of you. You guys know each other?" She gestured between the two of them, standing mutually in the middle of the two.

"WE'RE ARCH ENEMIES!" They shouted in unison, once again fixating each other with a glare.

Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but no words were able to come out and were quickly stolen away as the confrontation between the two of them continued.

"You're with her just to bother me, aren't you?!" Fred shouted.

"What, did you date her?" Red scoffed.

"Well yes, BUT SHE'S ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS!" He shouted in attempt to cover up his jealousy

Red smirked. "That's an even bigger plus."

Fred shoved him hard, eliciting some gasps from the peanut gallery and Daphne. "Stay away - from Daphne." He warned.

Red smiled bitterly and stepped forward and shoved him with the same intensity back. "Make me, Fred-Dork."

"Oh that tears it," Fred shouted and launched himself forward, barreling towards Red. He brought him down to the ground in a heated frenzy of utter rage and he could distantly hear Daphne telling him to stop it, but all he felt was the urge to punch that smile off of Red's face.

Red fought back of course, getting a good sock in Fred's eye and was able to yank his hair to pry his head away from him. He nearly gauged him in the other eye, eliciting a grunt from Fred as he kneed him in the groin for good measure.

Once again, having been the pattern of Fred's luck today, Principal Grimes came prancing out of his office and looked over to where all of the students' attention was being diverted and saw the brawl currently taking place and was having none of it. His eyes widened and he darted over and boomed, "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Clearly, Fred and Red didn't bother listening to them and instead focused on trying to one-up each other on hits.

It was utter silence when Principal Grimes stepped in and strode forward, yanking them forcefully apart and glaring deeply at both of them. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" He focused on Red. "I would expect better from you, you just came here." His eyes turned darkly to Fred. "And **you**," It was a very malice filled 'you'. "Haven't you gotten into enough trouble this year?! Without starting fights with new students!" His voice raised; before returning his gaze to both of them. "Fred Jones and Red Herring, report to my office **AFTER** you go to the nurse and clean yourselves up, you look horrendous!" He made a face of disgust, before turning on his heels and storming off.

With one last bidding glare to Red, Fred turned and stormed off to the bathroom. He didn't need to head to creaky, old Mrs. Baxter. She'd just chastise him for getting into a fight.

"FRED!" He faintly heard Daphne shout after him and heard the clicking her persistent heels and he immediately groaned.

He whirled around. "What do you want?" He was not in the mood to get into it with Daphne too; she was dating that monstrosity anyway. He wouldn't have been **as** angry if she hadn't been involved; she'd practically got him in trouble to begin with!

Her blue eyes focused on his black eye, Red had certainly gotten a decent punch in. "I just wanted to see if you're okay." She said gently.

"Well I'm not! Okay? I'm not okay! Why would I be okay? I'm probably going to get suspended and I'm not going to be able to play in the big game tonight, and they need me! I screwed them over royally, because I let my anger get the best of me! I let **you** get the best of me."

Daphne looked confused. "Me? Fred, what did I do?"

Fred shook his head and backed up, raising his hands. "Don't even go into Daph, just don't." He shoved open the men's bathroom door and left her standing there.

She huffed out a breath. "Well if he's just going to be difficult." She turned on her heels and fled the halls. Everyone had dispersed once Principal Grimes had made his appearance, she might as well get to class as well. What else did have to do?

But she had a feeling her mind would be solely focused on Fred for a majority of the day and his confusing way of conveying feelings she didn't even know he had anymore.

[OoOoOoO]

"Man, you're real stupid."

Fred sent Jimmy an utterly annoyed look. Forking at his food grudgingly. "Believe me, I'm well aware of that. I shouldn't even have messed with Red, I-" Fred had been lucky enough that the Principal had spared him, giving both Red and him [surprisingly] a warning instead of an immediate suspension. It was mostly on Red's behalf, considering he was new and it was going to look bad if his record was immediately tarnished; Grimes didn't want to deal with any more unruly parents than necessary.

"No, no, no!" Jimmy shook his head. "I'm not talking about your lack of common sense when it comes to fighting with people, I'm talking about your girl; Daphne." He'd finally acquired her name.

Fred looked up, forgetting his food. "Jimmy, what are you instigating?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Remember when you told me about the plan with your little mystery group, the whole 'we're all going to stay just friends'," He raised an eyebrow. "You remember that?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, what about it?"

Jimmy set his arms on the table and leant forward, looking him straight in the eyes. "The day you let yourself be: 'just friends' with Daphne Blake, when she's wanted you since Freshmen year, was the stupidest decision you've ever made."

And then he got to dump his tray, leaving Fred baffled.

[OoOoOoO]

It was the following day, that the gang was finally able to get together for a 'study session' in the eyes of their parents, but were really compiling themselves to focus on a new mystery that Velma had all texted them about. She'd refused to reveal anymore than that it was just a new mystery.

Fred was anxious to find out, but he was also dreading seeing Daphne. He'd pushed her away and what made it worse was they usually split up together [for no reason frankly, it's just how it worked]. He'd probably re-administer the teams tonight.

They'd got together at Shaggy's place; he'd been one of the first to arrive; other than Shaggy and Scooby of course.

"Like man, your eye's bulging." Shaggy pointed a finger to Fred's still lasting shiner on his left eye.

Fred made the mistake of forgetting and going up and fingering it, wincing on impact. "Yeah, thanks Shaggy. I didn't realize that." He sent him a glare with his one good eye [the other was swollen shut].

"No problem, man." Shaggy grinned, not catching the sarcasm at all. Scooby then padded in, raising his head to look at Fred before leaping back.

"Red! Rat rappened roo ro rye?" He asked, his eyes large.

"Don't call me Red!" Was his first response, before he sighed, knowing that Scooby could do no better, "I got into a fight with someone yesterday, could we not go into it? I'd really appreciate it."

Shaggy shrugged and looked down at Scooby, exchanging a look with him. "You hungry?"

Scooby licked his chops. "Ralways!" And turned around and began padding out of the room with Shaggy behind him, talking about some kind of sundae sandwich they were going to make. The idea of it made Fred grimace.

He sat down in Shaggy's broken couch, getting comfortable when Daphne walked in. He met her eyes and just looked at her for a moment and her him, before they both looked away, clearing their throats awkwardly.

Daphne only lifted her head against to send a glare towards his face and let out a huff, facing the wall so she wouldn't have to look at him.

It was five minutes of silence, before Fred stretched his arms over the couch and exhaled. "Daphne, look-" But was cut off when the other three who'd been missing came parading into the room, Velma with a messenger bag on her hip and a brochure in her hand. She looked thrilled with whatever news she was carrying, so Fred dropped it and leant forward, listening intently.

Velma then spent a good ten minutes informing them that they were heading up to Rocky Point Beach and investigating the ghost of an old sea diver. A sailor, Velma said, had claimed it was the ghost of Captain Cutler, who, according to the legend, died at sea many years ago when his boat got wrecked and he was now out getting his revenge.

The tale sounded cheesy to Fred, but he was more than gracious for the distraction.

"What're we waiting for?" Fred said with a grin plastered on his face and they went to retrieve the van, Shaggy and Scooby getting in the front and Velma, Daphne, and him in the back. Fred made sure that Velma was in between them.

Velma had a book in hand, before looking between the two. Her eyebrows shot up at the lack of eye contact and she immediately understood the hostility towards each other and frowned. "Jinkies," She murmured, catching their attention.

"What?" Daphne asked, looking up.

"Everything alright, Velms?" He raised an eyebrow.

Velma frowned. "Everything's just fine with me, but the tension between you two couldn't be cut with a Khanda." They looked confused at the name, but Velma continued anyway, though with caution. "Is everything alright?" She asked slowly.

Daphne and Fred exchanged looks, a brief bit of malice was shared, before they looked back over at Velma. "What? Tension?" Daphne laughed.

"Of course not," Fred grit out through a forced smile.

Daphne laid her arms in her lap. "Everything, is just,"

"Fine." Fred finished for her.

"If you say so," Velma trailed off, before burying her nose back in her book about the mishaps of Rocky Point Beach.

It was dead silence until the arrival. After finishing interviewing a few locals, then came the worst part: splitting up and Fred knew he had to initiate it. "Alright Gang, I guess it's time to split up and search for clues. Shaggy and Scooby, you two and I should stay and watch Shark. His story seemed a little too good to be true. Velma, you and Daph-"

"Wait, wait." Shaggy interceded, scratching his head. "Why are Scoob and I going with you? Like, we usually go off with Velma."

Fred clenched his teeth, but remained composed. "No reason," He flashed an assuring smile. "I figured we'd just mix it up is all."

Velma held up a finger. "If I could interrupt, I kind of wanted to go visit Cutler's widow for information, I heard she's been getting involved in witch craft lately and that seems very inconsistent to me with all of the rumors swarming around."

"I don't want to go visit some old bag, I'd rather watch Shark." Daphne argued.

"Well I want to go with Velma, maybe the witch's got something to eat." Shaggy said eagerly, looking down at Scooby who looked up at him in agreement.

"Reah, reah!" He insisted obediently.

Fred exhaled. "Fine. Daphne and I'll stay around here to keep an eye on Shark, you three go and interrogate Cutler's widow." The three nodded in approval and headed off.

He looked to Daphne, who still refused to look at him. "Staying here's okay with you?"

"I don't have many other options, do I?" She answered bitterly, folding her arms and looking down to survey her shoes and how muddy they were going to get from tracking around on this beach. This was hardly a beautiful beach, it was disgusting and Daphne didn't like it one bit.

"Look, could we just forget about what I said and focus on the mystery?" He asked hopefully, stepping forward and looking down at her.

Daphne recoiled, pursing her lips indignantly. "No. There's no way you're going to get off the hook when you were being so rude to me for no reason!"

"One, you made a pun. And two, you need to be quiet!" He insisted and he realized this only made her angry.

"Hello, how old are you again?" She looked around furiously, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him down towards the dock and hiding in the sand underneath it. "Happy?" She huffed in a whisper and knelt down, peeking around the corner. Shark hadn't appeared yet, but she might as well take the precautions now.

"My life's fulfilled," He muttered with a roll of his eyes, crouching down next to her.

Daphne turned suddenly and looked at him. "Why **exactly** are you mad at me anyway? I didn't give you a black eye, Red did! Just because you're not overly fond of Red, doesn't mean that I have to pay for it!"

Fred clenched his teeth. "Daphne, Red and I have a history. He's a jerk, he always will be. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Well he certainly can't be worse than you were!" She hissed matter-of-factly.

He shot up at that unhappily and in the mean time, slamming his forehead into the wood ceiling of the dock and crying out in pain, catching Daphne's attention better than anything else. He rubbed ruefully at his head and saw a bit of crimson spread across his fingers. He lifted his arm to rub away at it, but Daphne wrapped her fingers around his wrist and held him back.

"Now look what you did," She said in a gentle voice, sighing. "Sit down."

"Sit down? These are new jeans!" He insisted, gesturing down at them with his bloodied hand.

Daphne laughed. "You sound like me."

Fred managed a grin. "Well, you rub off on me." Finally complying and taking a seat on the sand and rocks they stood in front of. He blushed suddenly. "Not literally, I mean - you know…"

She smiled at him, before digging in her purse and producing a small first aid kid, popping it open and thumbing through countless medical things. She was **very** prepared seemingly.

"Whoa, what do you not have in there?" Fred asked incredulously.

"A lot of things," Daphne shrugged with a proud look. "It just looks like a lot, I even have tourniquets in here," She stated with a smile.

"It's a good thing it's not deep or you would be using one." He joked light-heartedly, bringing a laugh out of each of them.

She tucked a strand of red behind her ear. "That's probably a good thing, you may have me peeved at you, but I would worry. Now let me see your head." She ordered, pressing her fingers to the side of his head and straightening his head effectively.

The feel of her skin on his was electrifying. They hadn't touched for a lengthy period of time since the mutual break-up last summer at her Uncle's place. He missed holding hands with her and sneaking away with her to the van to make-out; he missed having his arm around her and claiming her as his. They had been the 'it' couple, but it hadn't mattered. He just **really** cared for her; he couldn't help it.

She poured some disinfectant on a cotton ball and swabbed at his head to clean away and sanitize the small scrape. The bleeding had stopped, but she'd wanted to make sure that it wouldn't get infected.

Fred's eyes wandered to her face, following her prominent jaw line and the curled strands of her hair surrounding her face, along with the bangs hovering directly over her carefully plucked eyebrows; but the cerulean blue of her eyes was what stood out the most. He loved her eyes.

Daphne's eyes briefly met his and he sent her a small smile. It made her heart swoon, but she pushed the feelings down. She pressed a bandage over it, her fingers lingering a little longer than necessary. "There, all done." She informed him with a bright smile.

"Yeah," He trailed off, getting lost in her eyes. The smile dropped from her face and she focused solely on him. Her hands fell to his shoulders and his arms went to wrap around her waist out of habit. He could hear her breathing and the proximity between their faces was minimizing frequently.

Tentatively, he closed the distance and pressed his lips to hers once, unmoving. She gave a sharp intake of breath; staying there like that for a moment's time before she got around to responding to the kiss and when she did, it was practically fireworks.

Fred was more than happy to reciprocate once she began and he was given the green light to continue. His hand reached up to cup her jaw gently, sifting through her hair and moving his lips softly, but deeply on hers. He'd missed this so much; it brought a pleasant feeling to his chest he hadn't felt in months.

Don't get Daphne wrong, she liked Red and all, but there hadn't been that severe breed of sparks until laying her lips on Fred's again. He made her feel nervous and antsy, unlike any way she'd ever felt towards someone. She didn't want to call it love - her thinking was naïve enough - but if this is what love felt like, she'd love to fall deeply under that spell.

The voice of Ebenezer Shark caught them both by surprise and they quickly broke apart, forgetting their lapse of thought and immediately scrambling to get back onto the dock. The kiss doesn't cross their minds until hours later and they're in the van.

Fred can't even look at her; not when all he wants to do is kiss her again.

Daphne can't even look at Fred either; not when she has a boyfriend. She's afraid the feelings will overwhelm her and she'll want to kiss him again and again and again. It's not right and she knows it.

So she bid everyone goodbye and disappeared into her mansion, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. She sighed, closing her eyes and wistfully thinking back to their kiss.

'Why can't it be summer again?'

[OoOoOoO]

The next day at school's pretty awkward. Mostly because the day's schedule went out that her study hall was third hour and that's when Fred had it on Wednesdays. She went with Red now, but they'd already compared and he had it second hour. Disgruntled, he gave her a quick kiss [no sparks; not that she surprised] and went off to lunch. She'd have lunch after study hall, along with Fred. She usually sat with her drama club friends and him with his football junkie buddies.

Now all she wanted to do was sit with him at a side table and talk to him; Madison Thompson's autograph from Elizabeth Gillies definitely wasn't at the top of her priorities anymore.

She'd been able to successfully avoid him during study hall, but they ended up nearly clashing trays during lunch, provoking a very awkward string of apologies.

Fred scratched the back of his neck and just as Daphne was about to walk away, he caught her arm [nothing but sparks; not that she was surprised], stopping her hassling me and I have test next hour and I need to concentrate."

'Don't say yes to him Daphne, you'll just be asking for trouble.' She forewarned herself subconsciously, but consciously she put on a smile and nodded. "Sure, no problem Fred. Though don't let Jessica get to you, I know she's always bugging you now." There was a reason she hated Jessica.

Fred nodded with a grimace. "You have a point there." A majority of Daphne's friends were all Fred's exes, most of them were jealous that she still had a friendship with him and she took pride in the fact. She also took pride in the fact that she was his longest relationship.

She really needed to get a day job.

Daphne led him over to her table and announced, "Fred's going to be sitting with us today, so be on your good behavior." She told them with a teasing smile and sitting down, beckoning Fred to do the same and next to her. The table was circular, so inevitably he wasn't **just** going to be sitting next to Daphne, despite her wanting that.

"Should have warning me prior to this Daphne," Jessica added in ruefully.

Fred opened his mouth, but Daphne spoke for him. "Jessica, don't; if you don't want him here, than leave. Otherwise, shut up about it." She told her sharply and Jessica's jaw unhinged practically, before shutting automatically and not uttering another word.

He sent a thankful smile in Daphne's direction, later focusing on his lunch tray.

"So Daphne, the only stud you usually bring around is Red, any special occasion why Jones is here?" Marilyn asked, a flirtacious undertone that visibly made Fred flinch. He wasn't very fond of Marilyn, never had been.

Daphne shrugged, twirling her fork absently. "Nope, just how the lunches were arranged today I guess."

"Where's Red?" Marilyn continued, making Fred hate Marilyn more and more.

"He had lunch last hour, you know how things get switched around." She defended, narrowing her eyes. She felt like she was in the midst of a twenty questions match with her. Then again, Marilyn had always been a nosy person. She didn't add anything to group and she didn't take anything away from the group, she was just - there.

Marilyn giggled. "Wonder how he'll react when he finds out that you brought Stud muffin to the table." There were a few giggles at that and Daphne slammed her fork down, raising her head to meet Marilyn.

The 'stud muffin' comment; egged Daphne on more than anything. "Any other questions Marilyn? You haven't shut up since Fred and I've gotten here. And your attempts to gain Fred's attention are about as subtle as a gun." She grasped her tray in one hand and stood up. "If I were you, I'd suggest closing my legs from time to time, maybe he'll like you." And with that comment, Daphne grabbed Fred's hand and led him off to one of those side tables she'd dreamt [well, maybe not dreamt] about eating with him at.

She took a seat, smoothing her leggings out, before resuming her eating. Fred looked at her dubiously, surprised at her words, but still managed to have a big grin taking over his face. She looked up, not being able to repress the quirk of her lip. "What? She was being annoying, sometimes she gets on my nerves, don't go to town with it." She laughed lightly.

He smiled, forking at a bean and chewing. "It's not that, it's just funny how you stood up for me."

"How so?" She raised an eyebrow, curious.

"I don't know, kind of intimate I guess."

She nearly choked on her water. "Intimate? Who's been dramatic now, Fred?"

Fred snorted. "It wasn't the most platonic thing in the world to do, Daph."

Daphne blushed furiously. "Fred, if you think I still have feelings for you, you're wrong."

He raised his eyebrows, taking a bite of a hamburger and in the meantime, smearing ketchup all over his upper lip, which obviously went unnoticed by him. He wasn't like Daphne who was always looking in her compact all of the time to check her reflection for flaws. "That kiss spoke otherwise."

She was about to rebut that, but was too distracted by the ketchup on his upper lip and huffed. "Oh you're so difficult." And arched over their trays, a napkin in hand and dabbed at his upper lip, making the mistake of looking up into **his** own brand of blue eyes; her heart beat rapidly in her own chest and she had trouble calming her breathing. The effect he had on her was ridiculous.

Fred smiled lightly. "See?"

That snapped the moment in two and she ducked back in her chair, more forcefully forking at the salad she wasn't even fond of. She searched endlessly for a new topic to speak about to get the attention off of their almost second kiss. "So, what's the class you have the test in next hour?"

And effectively, that closed the initial topic, much to Daphne's relief.

[OoOoOoO]

"Red, why exactly don't you and Fred get along? I figured I'd get a better answer out of you than him." Daphne asked during Study Hall the next day.

Red looked up from his notes and shrugged. "We got into this whole thing back early in grade school and I hated him and he hated me and it just worked like that ever since."

Daphne looked skeptical. "So it was just a spontaneous hatred? There wasn't a **reason** why you hated each other so much?"

"Well, he did always blame me on **everything** when we were kids. Ironically, we got stuck in the same elementary class for three years in a row. Something bad happened, it was automatically 'Red Herring's' fault." Red scowled. "It was so irritating. I didn't blame everything on him, so gradually, I began to hate him."

"He had to have a reason for hating you, Fred wouldn't just out of the blue decide to start blaming you on things."

Red sighed. "I wasn't necessarily the nicest kid admittedly and I'm still not, I'm always testing peoples' limits, but I've changed and he needs to get that. He's friends with you, he'll have to tolerate us." He stated simply.

"Red, something's been bugging me." She stated finally, chewing on her pen cap.

Red reached across the table and linked their fingers together. "Tell me, babe."

Daphne then decided against it. "Never mind, it's stupid."

"No, really. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think, go on." He nudged her along, playing the dimples along her knuckles.

"You didn't just ask me out to upset Fred, right?" Red ceased his rubbing and looked at her with a baffled expression.

He dropped her hand and folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "You think that I asked you out just to upset, Fred-Dork?"

Daphne frowned. "Don't call him that."

He ignored that. "Look, Daphne, I didn't even know that Fred knew you. And two, I feel like I should be offended that you think those were my intentions."

"Red, I'm not instigating that you're being pretentious in any way, but you can't be mad at me for thinking that. You seemed to take a lot of pride in Fred's reaction when he found out in the hall."

"Well imagine it Daphne: your worst enemy is suddenly best friends with your girlfriend, you can't say you wouldn't get any sick satisfaction out of that if the shoe was on the other foot?"

The bell sounded through the library and both Red and Daphne gathered their books.

Red looked up. "I'm leaving early, so I won't be at lunch. I'll talk to you later, **Daph**." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, making the call me sign with a silly grin and disappearing out the doors of the library with the rest of the crowd.

Daphne stood there for a moment and shook her head. Red calling her 'Daph' just didn't seem right.

[OoOoOoO]

"I can't believe we have to do this," Daphne said in a huff, pulling on a helmet.

Fred glanced at her. "I'm not all too fond of it either, but if we want to solve this mystery, it's necessary. We don't know what the Graveyard of Ships can tell us." He nudged her shoulder with an elbow. "Your hair won't get **that** messed up." He teased.

Daphne gasped and glared half-heartedly at him. "That is not my priority right now!" She shoved him in response laughing.

Fred stumbled back, letting out a laugh as well and pushing her back, in the end pressing their sides together and trying to dishevel whomever first. Fred wasn't trying that hard, mostly because he didn't want to shove her in the water.

"Guys!" Daphne stopped pushing and Fred kept it up and he had to quickly grab her to get her from falling in prematurely, letting out an amused laugh when she squealed and clung to his neck. Her head whipped around and glared at him right in the face.

'Not funny' her face said, but Fred kept laughing and she propped her hands on his chest, steadying her feet. Daphne could feel her face getting a lot hotter from the embarrassment.

"You can let go of me now," She said with a playful smile and his eyes widened in understanding and his hands dropped like wild fire.

"Oh yeah," He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry."

She nodded at him and pulled on her helmet. "Might as well join the others, right?"

And then it was all a see of murky blue and Daphne very much regretted coming here.

[OoOoOoO]

"An old man?" They all shouted in unison, confused at the man they found. They only managed to realize the man was Captain Cutler when Shaggy bent forward and stretched a piece of seaweed onto his upper lip.

Velma nodded as the police came into grab him by his armpits, hoisting him up as Captain Cutler grumbled unhappily.

"I've put it all together. Gathering from some locals and putting together the missing yachts, Cutler became encumbered in the glowing seaweed and his wife and him figured they could use the legend of the ghost to cover up their scheming. They stole, repainted, and resold expensive yachts that they'd stolen from the marina."

"And I would have gotten away with it too!" Cutler broke in characteristically in defense, glaring daggers at the five of them. "If it weren't for you nosy teenagers and your do-gooder dog!"

The gang turned around, ignoring the rest of his insignificant pleas and they all looked victorious.

"Another mystery wrapping up quite nicely," Velma commented with a bright smile.

"I'll say," Daphne agreed with just as bright of a smile.

"I think we should celebrate at the Malt shop." It was old-fashioned maybe, but no one could possibly deny a good malt.

Daphne shook her head and stopped walking. "I can't, I have to meet up with Red after this. I promised him I would and I'm already running late."

Fred let out an aggravated sigh. "Can't he wait, Daph? We can have a little celebration, another successful mystery solved, isn't that more worth it?" He attempted to convince her and she was slowly buying into it.

Daphne blew a piece of hair out of her face, cracking a smile. "Well what're we waiting for?"

[OoOoOoO]

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for two hours, well nearly three now!" Red insisted, throwing his arms up out of frustration.

"I was out with the Gang, it took longer than I thought." Daphne defended. "I'm here now, aren't I?" She felt a little guilty that she'd ditched their plans all because Fred convinced her to stay longer, but she couldn't say no to Fred often; it was a hard feat to attempt.

Red narrowed his eyes. "It's different, you've been really distant lately. Is everything okay?" His face then softened, trying to comprehend the situation.

Daphne sighed. "I don't know, it's just hard to juggle a friendship with Fred and a relationship with you when you two hate each other so much."

"Figures," He muttered and paced. "He'd get in the way of us, I'm not surprised; he's always been intrusive."

"What are you talking about?"

Red looked up. "I like you, he likes you - I know he does. I know you two **were** more than just friends. I know that. You still like him; I get it. That's what happens with the girls I like. Fred and I may not have the best past, but I'm not going to continue to date you when both of you obviously like each other. I'd say love, but I don't want to freak you out."

Daphne's heart swelled for this boy. How could Fred hate him? He was agreeing to let her go just because he wouldn't stand in the way of the two of them. She felt like this really **was** a soap opera.

She gave him a big hug and leaned her head into his ear, muttering a 'thank you'. Now it was time to put to work her newly refreshed 'single' status.

[OoOoOoO]

The next day, she was ready to set things straight with Fred Jones. She strode into the school with a plan in mind, when she eyed Marilyn talking to Fred. A fury lit her eyes and she immediately stalked over, catching the attention of both Fred and Marilyn.

"Oh, hey Daph." Fred smiled warmly, his eyes lighting up as soon as she came around. She had to inhale quickly to stop from squealing.

"Yeah, **hi** Daphne." Marilyn greeted as well, narrowing her eyes.

Daphne raised her eyebrows menacingly, before turning back towards Fred. "Can we talk for a moment - **alone**." She added in ruefully, fixating a heavy stare on Marilyn.

"But Fred and I were talking!" Marilyn defended.

"Not for much longer." Daphne stated and reached forward to wrap her fingers around Fred's wrist and pull him off into the direction she desired, when she felt a painful tug at her hair that **definitely** caught her attention and made her **very** angry.

Daphne dropped Fred's wrist and turned around, pursing her lips. "Did you just pull my hair?" She asked Marilyn slowly.

Marilyn smirked and folded her arms behind her back innocently, her eyes betraying her. "Maybe."

"That tears it," Daphne launched herself at Marilyn and brought her down to the ground, swatting at her face. Marilyn was screaming like Daphne was committing bloody murder, but Daphne didn't let up her hits at all. "I've hated you ever since Fred dated you last year!"

Marilyn squealed when Daphne yanked her hair a little too hard; Marilyn was rendered helpless as Daphne hurt her. Fred felt the need to step in and darted down and wrapped his arms around Daphne's waist [he wouldn't willingly lay a finger on Marilyn], trying to pull the girls away from each other, while Marilyn kept on screaming her head off.

Principal Grimes then again stepped out of his office and saw the scene before him and nearly had a heart attack. "Another fight again?!" He boomed and raced over, grabbing Marilyn and pulling her away from Daphne with force.

"IN MY OFFICE, NOW!"

[OoOoOoO]

"So, what happened?" Fred asked when he got up from waiting in the office. He was anxious to find out when both Daphne and Marilyn emerged from Grimes office. Fred discarded Marilyn's being there and focused solely on Daphne.

Daphne sighed. "He let us off with a warning - similar to how he did with you and Red. He probably wouldn't have to done it prior to that, so thanks - kind of." She said cheekily.

Fred smiled. "You're welcome." He glanced down, noticing the pressure she was putting on the one leg and frowned immediately, looking up at her. "Did you do something to your leg?"

Daphne wrinkled her nose. "Kind of. I stepped wrong on my heel when you were pulling me away from Marilyn and I'm pretty sure I twisted it." Daphne's voice filled with venom when she spoke 'Marilyn'.

"I'm sorry." He immediately apologized, feeling guilty that he was the cause of it. He gazed at her suddenly, looking coy. "But I have a quick way to solve it." Before she could utter a word, he scooped her up into his arms [a gasp eliciting from Marilyn; who even cares?] and brought her out into the hall. Classes were going on, but yet Red was standing right there.

Fred stopped, looking a little crestfallen and exchanging a look with Daphne. Oddly, she looked **really** calm, as if her boyfriend wasn't standing right in front of them, watching his worst enemy hold his girlfriend in his arms.

Daphne waved at Red. "Hey Red." She was seemingly casual. Red saluted, focusing on Fred and raising his eyebrows at him.

"Fred."

"Red." Fred acknowledged. "I-she-hurt her ankle and I figured I-" He trailed off when Red raised a single finger, initiating for him to shut up now.

The redhead shook his head. "Just kiss her already for God Sakes."

Fred's eyes widened at the permission and looked at Daphne. "Wait, aren't you dating him?"

Daphne peeked around to look at Red. "You want to tell him or me?"

"Frankly, I want to see him kiss you first so I know that all I did wasn't for some incorrect prediction." Red shrugged, keeping an eye on the two.

Fred still looked very confused [he wasn't the brightest, admittedly]. He looked down at Daphne to see if she could bring some clarity to the situation for him, but instead of being verbal about it, she grasped his face in her hands, smiling.

"Kiss me, you idiot." And brought his lips to hers, evoking the sparks all over again. He allowed himself to respond for a few seconds before he pulled back and looked at Red.

"Why?"

Red rolled his eyes. "Daphne and I are over, I dumped her because you two obviously have chemistry." Fred looked even more confused. "Look, I didn't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me, so consider yourself lucky I decided to be nice."

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Why would you do that - I mean, it is me, Fred Jones, your worst enemy. We hate each other, or do you not remember that?" He asked in attempt to jog his memory.

Red shrugged. "Hey, if you have her, next time I go chasing after a girl, maybe you won't try and one-up me. I don't like competition." The hints of a smile flitted briefly on his face.

Daphne looked between the two of them. "Does this mean you'll be friends?" She asked hopefully.

Fred and Red looked at her simultaneously. "Don't push it."

[OoOoOoO]

AN: All done! Phew, last story before New Years. I wanted to make it lengthy and really good, and I'm so utterly proud of this piece, I want to hug it and cuddle it and bring it to bed with me tonight. It's just so thorough and I felt like it was really in character for the Scooby Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster fandom.

Basically it fits with the newest live action Scooby Doo movies. I really hope they make more! I love Robbie Amell and Kate Melton's chemistry. Plus, Kate Melton is a strong Daphne, yet still the girlish Daphne Blake we all know and love.

That and I love Robbie Amell's arms. He pulls off a **very** fit Fred.

Reviews are very much appreciated! I love writing for the Scooby Doo section of Fanfiction because the reviewers, readers, and authors are just so nice! There wasn't a lot of scrutiny when I knew that I could improve a lot and I find that so nice. Thank you all and thank you for providing very wholesome, in-character stories for me to read. You all are amazing.

Have a fantastic New Year! And I hope that I'm able to produce a few more! This story was produced on a whim over the past three days, so hopefully it's as good as I thought it was!

Happy New Year,

~Nat


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